Looks like another brisk day for a Crew home opener. Upper 30s forecast right now, eight days out. Virtually identical to last year's opener vs NYRB. Though that was a 4:30 kickoff. Maybe 12:30 will at least feel a little warmer because it might be sunnier throughout the match. Maybe. Cuz it was ********ing cold last year. Please, no wind. Any chance we could reschedule the match to tomorrow, when it's supposed to be close to 50? Didn't think so. Anyway, I assume it'll be a good crowd; home opener, and all. Still, despite Dr Pete's recent rosy statements about season ticket sales, I'll believe we'll see a big boost in attendance this year when I see it. Recall, last season, we averaged 14,856, just sneaking in above Dallas for 21st in the league. So, no, I don't expect a miracle in 2020, but I sure as hell expect continued improvement. Say a 16K+ average for the season? That won't win us any awards, and league-wise will still mean we'll remain stuck in the bottom quarter of teams, attendance-wise. But it'll likely create some space between us and the Colorados and Dallases (and, hopefully, Chicagos) of the league. And get us closer to the Montreals, Houstons and New Englands.
I ********ing hate this attendance metric. Like we're supposed to compete with 40k stadiums when 18k is a sellout. Measure by % of seats sold, not raw numbers.
Yeah. Raw numbers of sponsorship dollars. But since we don't have any of that, I suppose you're right.
I don't know what the legal - probably latin - term is for inaccurately using part of a quote in order to change the meaning of what the speaker was saying, but let's read the rest of Don's (poorly articulated) thought: So, it's plain to see that he's not talking shit about small market franchises for being successful but rather calling out the large market owners for not being as successful as their peers in smaller cities. (Before I get called a Garber apologist, again, let me just state for the record: F*ck Don Garber and his double speak.)
[/Quote][/QUOTE] "Everything you say before the word 'but' is meaningless" Gargle is completely and totally talking shit about small market teams. They don't make him enough money.
Sorry if I was unclear, but that's what I was trying to do. MLS clubs in stadiums like ours (size-wise) who are considered to be doing very well sell 90+% percent of their tickets. That's the threshold. It's pretty simple math. We're always stuck in the 70-80% range. Obviously, club's like Atlanta and Seattle skew overall average numbers. Who cares? The Crew are hardly the only club in MLS for which those clubs' attendance numbers don't apply. But LAFC, Minnesota, KC, Portland, Cincinnati, RSL, with D.C. really close, and Miami probably there in 2020. They're all in that club. We are not. We're not alone, of course. Orlando's numbers continue to slide, though they're still better than anything we've generated. Philly seems to be making a push to get out of the attendance doghouse, but their stadium location isn't helping them. NYRB can't fill their place in NJ. Chicago, Dallas, Houston, Colorado. Just guessing, but I really do think that new ownership expects us to consistently fill up the new stadium, and in so doing, join the ranks of the haves in MLS. That's why Bez has talked about the importance of dramatically expanding the season ticket base. We're not competing against Atlanta and their occasional 70K attendance numbers. Among our attendance peers, what we need to compete is a consistent average that's above 18K, and ideally closer to 19K. And we have to be honest with ourselves here. Our attendance has, year to year, been one of the worst in MLS. It's just a fact. We have lots of excuses we can roll out, some of them valid, that explain away those numbers. But when you're not just among the have nots in the league, but consistency in the bottom handful, it's a problem.
Ah, got it. Well, what can you do? I don't think those metrics bother the teams that are selling out (or close to), their 20K-ish stadiums regularly. That's the only group I think we're aiming to be associated with.
It's a hell of a challenge, for sure. Refurbishing an old somewhat tarnished brand is probably the toughest task in marketing. Which is why a complete makeover, name, ckrs, badge, the whole nine yards, would probably be a good idea. And yes that would give all of us hardasses the sadz for a few weeks, in the end we'd still have our team. But that's not going to happen.
Yeah, if I had to guess, I think we're in for a long, hard slog when it comes to improving attendance. We'll get a stadium bump, to be sure, but we'll need to sustain it. Winning consistently at home wouldn't hurt a bit. In the end, for me, success or failure will be measured in how we compared to the old saying about being chased by a bear: you don't need to be the fastest person in your group, just faster than one other person. Regarding attendance, well, it's not good enough to be next to last, but we need to out of the pack of laggards who the bear can easily catch. I'm really curious to see what Nashville's numbers look like this year. MLS has gotten so used to just about every expansion club being a success in the stands, that it'll be interesting to see how the league reacts if one of their shiny new clubs isn't drawing well.
Agreed. When it comes to attendance I'd like Columbus to be like a good holding mid: Never mentioned, either good or bad. Middle of the pack in all business metrics is where we should aim to be.
What should the league do about this travesty? I have some ideas. Tip the scales so big players land in big markets. Big markets should dominate TV. Lean on the refs for outcomes. Spend the first half of your existence chasing away the fans you court in the second half of your existence. If these ideas don't work for 25 years you should allow the sports league to be a sports league. I heard the pro wrestling comparison last night and thought "Nope, AEW was a great show on Wednesday. Levels above MLS".
I'm going to let you in on a secret. There's no such thing as business metrics when it comes to MLS. It's a useless word that is supposed to have meaning but when you really analyze it, it has no meaning. It's as irritating as empowerment.
I'm having a hard time wrapping my head around this; metrics are everything. I'd be grateful if you'd explain, either here or in the lot on Sunday.
I don't disagree with this at all, well almost at all. I know this has been beat completely to death, but we have never in our entire existence had a front office that both tried AND was welcomed by the local business community. Never. I know Lamar tried in the beginning but entering into a lawsuit against the biggest Columbus benefactors over the Jackets was a huge albatross. Then we had Clark who never showed up here and sold us out for a bag of nickles to a dirtbag that actively worked against improvement. I am both excited and curious as to what this ownership can do. Certainly can't be as bad as any of the previous 25 years.
Metrics are important in the real world. This is MLS. Do you really believe the numbers they spit out?